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- The Chicago Astronomer -
Copyright 2004-2014 All rights reserved by Joseph Guzman Administrator/Founder/Chief Astronomer.
All text and images are the property of the original authors/artists and shall
not be used without permission.

Post by Chicago Astronomer Joe on Jan 30, 2010 5:40:42 GMT -6

I got a Yelp lunch Box at our 2009 X-mas party and thought it cool. It's got a thermos inside and sturdy. But, as I was looking at it, the comet didn't seem right...and I started to critique the art.

Here is my interpretation of the lunch box....

Yelp Lunch box Observations and interpretations.....

It's suggested that the landscape is Earth in 2525 - as the half buried Statue of Liberty is mocking us and itching for a shout of "God damn you all to hell". There is some atmosphere on the planet, as there is evident diffusion of sunset/sunrise over the horizon, but it appears to be thin and pressure low...scattering lower light frequencies.

It also implies that the Earth's atmosphere has been changed in some way. Radiation, Carbon Dioxide,...something happened, as the space chimp and mutant astro chick are wearing helmets for protection. I'm leaning toward severe radiation due to her third eye sprouting, The chimp sentient of a Tri-corder of sorts...and the giant insect-like hominid creature. More on him later, but let's stay with the Space chick....

She is right handed, but keeps her holder for the ray gun on her left hip...making her reach & draw of the weapon a little longer than necessary. Her space suit displays her breasts well, cute small nose and full lips... and was obviously drawn by a male, but she has no hips of any significance. It says that humanoid females no longer birth naturally, but still breast feeds the mutant young, nutrition stimulated via hormone capsules/injections. Her index finger is on the trigger and sees something of a threatening nature, but I speculate it is a diversion from the insect-like hominid creature rapidly advancing toward the crew - using his energy staff to project a hologram.

The space chimp is in need of an orthodontist, not paying much attention and simple lookin'. But after all, he does display an "Elite" tag and not a surprise. It too requires a helmet to survive and is capable of speech communication, as both helmets display antennae. He has obtained the opposable thumbs and appears to be texting....perhaps Tweeting.

The insect creature has binocular vision and bipedal. It is theorized that the creature was once perhaps human, but the excessive Rems of atmospheric residual Roentgens mutated mankind - morphing with dung beetles which found refuge with humans in bunkers. The insect creature still retains human modesty, as it is clothed, gloved and booted...with well developed pecs and still possesses opposable thumbs. It also has a staff of sorts and is more than just a walking stick, but perhaps some sort of energy focuser...as rays of some sort of radiation are emanating from the ball, and it's dialed down to 1/2 power. The creature seems to have adapted well to the changed environment, breathing the thin air well. It's mandibles are not in concert with each other, making eating space burritos impossible.

The small flying droid with the binocular vision is sporting some sort of combustion jet pack, as the flame shooting out from the thrusters are of two colors and not very powerful due to the reddish color of low temp flame and indicating a lower gravity. But, there should not be any flames at all, as oxygen is needed for a flame and there seems to be a lack of it here. A high concentrate Hydrogen Peroxide/Liquid Oxygen fuel mix would be better. There are aeronautical fins on the nacelles, hinting at quick horizontal travel, but unless the motors Gimbel, I don't see how it would pitch,yaw or roll. It also seems to be a machine of menial tasks - with two grappling claws, maybe sensors on the front and could be an a space dildo.

The orange Yelp flag on the now barren Earth appears to be flapping vigorously, but this is in error, as is the bellowing insect creature's cape. Atmospheric pressure seems too feeble for such reactions stemming from movement or breeze. But there is some sort of mist hugging the surface and appears to be of a heavier element than the surrounding thin atmosphere.

The space craft was not constructed well, as the landing fins are not space out properly...but this is an uncertain assertion, not being able to view the other side for a fourth fin. The two aerodynamic wings near the upper stage imply that some atmospheric travel is part of the journey...but only for ascent/horizontal movement and not needed here at this time There are five stages to the space craft: 1st stage containing the propulsion mechanisms - 2nd stage containing the egress air lock/prep chamber. 3rd stage most likely living quarters & life support. 4th stage command/pilot control and the 5th stage holding communication/navigation/maneuvering hardware - and could be used as an escape pod.

There has been some cataclysmic upheavals on Earth, as mountain ranges have appeared along the east coast, well over the 151 foot tall Statue of Liberty and a heavy deep sediment layer covers the area.

The comet is wrong. Observing the shadows on the spherical bodies, the Sun is somewhere around 11 O'Clock, but the comet's tail is pointing in the wrong direction. All comet tails point away from the solar wind...even while heading out and away. I also see no familiar constellations or asterisms in the future Earth sky. Even with polar procession, there should still be some stellar familiarity. The Moon is small, and could be accurate, as it is slowly moving away from us at a rate of 1 1/2 inches per year. The red body with the ring around it was probably captured as a renegade Kuiper Belt object.

There is a U.F.O in close proximity and could be the insect creature's mode of transportation. The "Eat at Zanthor's" sign seems to be in orbit about the planet, but must be gigantic in size in order to read the letters from ground level. It is doubtful that intergalactic Yelping will be possible in 500 years, but perhaps interplanetary instead.

There should have been a Cd of Zager and Evan's tune "In the Year 2525" in the lunch box.

Post by Chicago Astronomer Joe on Feb 1, 2010 6:38:06 GMT -6

A fellow "Yelper", Pyke - has provided his own interpretation of what the art rendered on the all metal Yelp Lunch box might reflect:

One has to look at a series of what a lesser mind might think as lazy art direction and coincidences, but I firmly believe that this lunchbox is a direct tribute to one of the best science fiction epics of the 90's, Starship Troopers.

Red is an amalgam of 3 characters here (one for each eye), obviously two of which are Johnny Rico and Carmen Ibanez. Carmen because she is clearly, as Carmen was, a beauty who any man, robot, or ape would follow to the ends of the Universe. Johnny, as he's the main character, and for the fact that the monkey represents his troops, being led into battle (detail later). Who is the third? It's Ace: look at her gun. Despite having her blaster on the left side, she is shooting with her right hand. Well, as was brought up in the training camp by Zim, an enemy cannot push a button if you disable its hand. Ace had a knife thrown through his hand to get this point (hooray for puns)

The monkey is simple metaphor for the Mobile Infantry: "Come on you apes! You wanna live forever?" The spaceship, which, from the view of the planet surely is delivering "Death from Above." The fact that the top left describes the "Elite Squad" makes me think that this is just the Roughnecks (and not the entire MI), who proved time and time again to be just that.

The giant Bug represents, well, the Bugs. The staff it holds could be described as "wizardly" which seems to not fit in with the SST universe, but to quote Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The Bugs had millions of years of evolution that humans didn't have. Perhaps some of them even evolved to be technologically superior than humans. The fact that we didn't see any of this in the film does not diminish this: The bugs shot their spawn into space. The homeworld of Klendathu may have reached its evolutionary apex early, and these bugs could be the Neanderthallic relatives of the Bugs we see on Planet Yelp.

But why aim away from the Bug? This is a direct shot at those reading into this tale as a pro-military wank. Yes, the Bugs destroyed Buenos Aires, and that was a direct act of war, but we are never told why. Perhaps the higher ups, either in Fleet or government, forced their hand. We are told that there were a series of non-battles before both the attacks on the "Skinnies" and the destruction of BA. It's Verhoeven's message that "War makes fascists of us all" and that sometimes the true enemy is not the one without, but the one within. Pretty radical for a corporate lunchbox, says me.

The planet, as Joe stated, is very different from the one we know as Earth, or Terra. The atmosphere is much thinner, landscape of NYC has become almost unrecognizable. I believe this to be the result of a continuation of the Bug War. As a first shot, the Bugs removed Buenos Aires from Earth by redirecting an asteroid into the planet. After 200 years of war and the destruction of their homeplanet by the Terrans, the remains of the Bugs may have responded in kind, destroying Earth itself, and occupying it. Red is the elite force charged with taking it back for its rightful owners. An interesting detail here is that the "good guys" are all standing in the shadow of the Bugs, even while they aim at other enemies. This demonstrates the importance of defeating the bugs, even if there are other foes to be fought.

The robot is simply the Press Corps, theorizing that they should be replaced by automatons as the human reporters, lacking all battle skill, had developed the nasty habit of being eviscerated in Bug raids. With robot reporters, an attack is almost inconsequential, and the reporter can be replaced, without any downtime, in seconds. In addition, it makes allows all the rations to go to the soldiers, who are actually fighting this war.

In summary, I was shooting for, the artist who drew this has gone and snuck a tribute to Heinlein's Starship Troopers (Technically more Verhoeven's vision, but credit where it's due), along with a few personal ideas regarding the story.

Now, I wish I had viewed "Starship Troopers" beforehand, and might be a Netflix queue item soon.

Post by Chicago Astronomer Joe on Aug 29, 2010 10:14:28 GMT -6

Andy,

Yelp is a on-line business review group.

Many cities have a local Yelp group and often we get together for drinks and laughs as an extended family. Many have joined me at our observation sessions and become good friends and Chicago Astronomer supporters.

I have also created my own little following as the resident astronomer:

Shoutbox

Post a quick message for Administrator Joe or another member here...

mojocvh: Been a bit under the weather last week or so will have another go "soon"Mar 29, 2014 10:19:25 GMT -6*

jima21: I have an 8yr old boy, who is into astronomy, I would like to be involved in this with him, but I am also new to this and would like more information or how to start any input, ideas, guidance is much appreciated. Thank you.Apr 1, 2014 14:36:04 GMT -6

shareef777: Hi all,[br][br]So I used to have a telescope years ago but had to sell it due to my growing family and financial needs. I've since settled down and wanted to get back into the hobby and get my kids into it as well. What's a good starting place?Apr 9, 2014 9:14:02 GMT -6

Chicago Astronomer Joe: 777....A Dobsonian telescope is your best value for a starter scope. Get one with at least a 6 inch aperture. A good on-line search will display many manufactures of good scopes. Apr 13, 2014 3:58:14 GMT -6

Chicago Astronomer Joe: Jima....8 years old is a great age to start exploring the cosmos and economically. It would be best to start a thread on your question, where we can share pics and expand on the interest. Apr 13, 2014 4:04:03 GMT -6

chitra: I am new to this group and would like to know if a 6 year old can atten the party.Jul 17, 2014 21:33:42 GMT -6

Chicago Astronomer Joe: Hi Chitra.... We request that all younger kids be strictly supervised by their parents, as sensitive and expensive equipment can be damaged. The same applies to pets and children playing in close proximity. [br]Jul 18, 2014 15:51:56 GMT -6

Chicago Astronomer Joe: All Chicago Astronomer events are family friendly and free for all ages.Jul 18, 2014 15:52:20 GMT -6

Meade ETX Astro Telescope: I would like to sell - ETX Astro Telescope - ETX Spotting Scope with 3029 Manfrotto basic head and #144 Manfrotto Tripod since I am not able to use it any longer. Where can I sell it for any value? Suggestions would be appreciated. Thank U MikulizaOct 16, 2014 9:40:19 GMT -6

mauriciodiaz: I came across your forum and found it very interesting. I currently have a CI700 and would like to make the modifications you've made to mine. I have the Meade Autostar components however, I am not sure what items to get to complete the setup. Shush as theDec 20, 2014 8:42:52 GMT -6

mauriciodiaz: Shush as the motors, encoders and belt pulleys. Do you have a list of this items and where I can get themDec 20, 2014 8:43:20 GMT -6

sbkburns: It was around 3:30 am PST from San Diego toward the Pacific that I saw this flickering star. Sirius? Seen it do this from dark mountain skies, but never with a regular red beat.Jan 10, 2015 6:13:29 GMT -6

gerryn: Was out in AZ. And saw so many stars in the sky than I ever see in Evanston, IL. Jan 27, 2015 22:42:23 GMT -6